Silchar to meet railmen in final

Nuruddin Trophy

Guwahati/Dibrugarh, March 16: Defending champions Silchar will clash with last year’s runners-up, NF Railway, in the final of the Nuruddin Ahmed Trophy senior inter-district cricket tournament elite group in a replay of last year’s final.

While Silchar tamed Nagaon by 276 runs in a semi-final played at NF Railway Stadium here today, the railmen prevailed over hosts Dibrugarh by 234 runs in the other semi-final at Dibrugarh District Sports Association Stadium in Dibrugarh.

The match will be held in Guwahati, though the date is to be finalised, keeping in view the NF Railway team’s clash of dates with the all-India inter-Railway meet.

“We will fix the dates as soon as the NF Railway Sports Association makes its team available for the final match,” said Assam Cricket Association secretary Bikash Baruah.

Chasing a mammoth target of 473 runs in the second innings, the Nagaon men resumed at the overnight 65 for three to be bundled out for 196 in 51 overs on the last day of the four-day match today.

In Dibrugarh, the home side was bundled out for 112 runs in 35.4 overs, chasing a second innings target of 347 runs.

NF Railway today resumed their second innings at the overnight 219 for eight and added only 12 more runs to be all out for 231.

The Dibrugarh players alleged that the match was “imposed” upon them. They said they were not prepared for the match as some of the key players like promising offspinner Prasanta Sonowal had their exams.

“When we heard about the dates, we requested the DDSA and the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) to reschedule this match. However, our pleas were not heard,” one of the players said. THE TELEGRAPH